Lexus Eco Challenge Second Round Winners Continue To Make
Positive Impact On The Environment

TORRANCE, CA--Jan. 25, 2013: Lexus and Scholastic today are
pleased to announce the second round winners in the 2012-2013 Lexus Eco
Challenge, an educational program and contest that inspires and empowers
young people to learn about the environment and take action to improve
it. Lexus will award a total of $500,000 in
grants and scholarships throughout this year's program.

Each winning high-school or middle-school team has earned $10,000 in scholarships and grants to be shared
among the students, teacher and school. Their win has secured each team
an invitation to participate in the Final Challenge for a chance at one of
two $30,000 grand prizes and eight $15,000 first-place awards. In addition, the
winning action plans will be featured on a special Web page to inspire
other students to take action in their communities
at www.scholastic.com/lexus.

"The commitment and devotion shown by the students through their
projects is remarkable," said Mark Templin,
Lexus group vice president and general manager. "We're thrilled at Lexus
that we can continue to support the program and encourage young students to
take action to better the environment."

For each of the challenges, teams are required to define an
environmental issue that is important to them, develop an action plan to
address the issue, implement the plan, and report on the results. The
Challenge #2 winning teams that best addressed environmental challenges
associated with air and climate are:

High School Teams:

New York (McGraw) --
"Environment/Recycling Outside of the Box" -- McGraw High School -Collected non-traditional recyclable items and coordinated
event for items to be recycled or reused so that items can find new life
and reduce waste in landfills.

Massachusetts (Boston) -- "Guardians of the
Greenosphere" -- Boston Latin School --
Raised awareness of how the school community can reduce energy consumption
and to use more efficient practices.

Florida (Newberry
State) -- "Climate Control Corps" -- Newberry High School -- Educated students and community on how to reduce
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with information on climate change, solar
energy, wind energy and reforestation.

North Carolina (Raleigh) --
"Heat Busters" - Enloe High School -- Developed awareness about global warming and lowering
carbon emissions via a Facebook page, online petition and a video.

Indiana (Munster) -- "PCV Patchers"
-- Munster High School -- Reduced emissions
of harmful gases released from cars by encouraging community members to
change their PCV valves.

Missouri (St.
Louis) -- "Forever Eco" - Parkway North High School
-- Implemented a plan to save the school's current
composting program through education materials and posters.

California (La
Crescenta) - "Riptides" - Clark Magnet School --
Created a prototype carbon filter for exhaust pipes and built a Native
Plant Garden, including a windmill with blades to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions.

California (Oak
Park) -- "Environmental Interconnectivity Team"
-- Oak Park High School -- Educated the students and community on the
use of alternative energy and solar energy by holding a teaching event for
students.

Middle School Teams:

New Jersey (Manahawkin) -- "Breaking Wind"
-- All Saints Regional Catholic School --
Created a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on
foreign oil by creating electricity using a small 12-blade model wind
turbine.

New Jersey (Wyckoff) -- "CO2 Crew"
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle
School -- Addressed the dangers of car idling
within their school and asked parents to take a pledge; raised money to
replace trees in the local wildlife that were devastated by Hurricane
Sandy.

Texas (McKinney) -- "Green Our School"
-- Evans Middle School -- Created awareness
of energy conservation with turning classrooms lights off when not in use
and fundraising efforts for Pavegen energy tiles to be installed.

South Carolina (Hanahan) --
"Eco Hawks" -- Hanahan Middle
School -- Reduced carbon footprint by encouraging
recycling at school and in the community

Kentucky (Lexington) -- "The Green Freaks"
-- SCAPA -- Reduced the amount of plastic
throw-away used in the school by encouraging students and faculty to bring
reusable bags.

California (Lancaster) -- "Renewable Ravens"
-- Endeavour Middle School -- Coordinated a
school-wide competition for students to think about renewable energy and
challenged the students to carpool.

This year's Lexus Eco Challenge launched this past September and
concludes with the announcement of the first place and grand-prize-winning
teams in spring 2013. The Final Challenge asks students to address an
environmental topic that affects the world at large.

In addition to the ongoing contest, the Lexus Eco Challenge also
includes educational materials created and distributed by Scholastic, the
global children's publishing, education and media company, to encourage
teachers to integrate creative lesson plans about the environment into
their classrooms. For each challenge, the Web site
(Lexus Scholastic) has lesson plans and teacher instructions,
including questions to help guide a discussion about the current challenge
topic, facts about the topic, and guidelines for a specific classroom
project.

The Lexus Eco Challenge is part of The Lexus Pursuit of Potential, a
philanthropic initiative that generates up to $3
million in donations each year for organizations that help build,
shape and improve children's lives.